


eighth graders

by mostlyzoe



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Attempt at Humor, Bi Daisy, Bi Jemma, F/F, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Dates, Fluff, Gabe is the best, Gen, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Plot, WTF, Zoe wrote something lighthearted
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 16:09:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15537963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mostlyzoe/pseuds/mostlyzoe
Summary: a story in eight parts about how Gabe got Robbie and Daisy together in this universe.or, Daisy really doesn't expect her summer fling to be dating the guy she likes. But that's just high school, apparently.





	eighth graders

**Author's Note:**

> y'all I'm so sporadic posting ANYTHING, but here's a fun treat. when will I write again? anybody's guess.

I.

 

Jemma moves into Daisy’s neighbourhood in March. Jemma is cute, friendly, and beyond brilliant. The two of them meet at the café down the road, and Daisy offers to show Jemma around school. By the time they’ve finished that first coffee, Daisy is a little bit in love.

Daisy is a flirt. So she flirts with Jemma. _Obviously_ she flirts with the hot girl who already has her life figured out at sixteen. As time goes on Daisy connects with Jemma, hard. Suddenly they’re talking all the time, and Jemma is absorbed seamlessly into Daisy’s pre-existing friend group. Daisy’s little crush doesn’t go away.

That June, Jemma drops the fact that she’s bi. Daisy has an out of body experience.

Jemma asks Daisy to see _Wonder Woman_ a few days after the school year ends. Daisy accepts, they go, and they practically scream about how hot Diana is (in a row nearby, a guy with long hair makes an appreciative comment about Steve Trevor; his bespectacled girlfriend giggles and says _“Mark!”_ in an affectionate tone, but doesn’t deny it).

Things change after the movie, because Daisy invites Jemma back to her house and they make out on Daisy’s bed, with the pale blue covers and the yellow pillows. Daisy is floating. Everything is wonderful.

All summer Daisy and Jemma are perfect. They go on late night bike rides and watch comedy shows on Jemma’s couch, Jemma works on some intellectual chemistry project while Daisy sits on her phone on the opposite corner of the room. Daisy’s adoptive parents get used to seeing Jemma around. It’s nice. It’s _really_ nice.

And of course, it doesn’t last.

They’ve never had the “what are we” conversation, so there’s nothing that can even be properly lost. After school starts again Daisy and Jemma are ripped apart. Daisy isn’t smart like Jemma is, so they barely see each other in school. Jemma starts an internship, so she’s never on the bus.

Eventually they speak face to face and decide it would be best to remain friends for the time being. Daisy is disappointed but knows it’s for the best. That night Jemma comes over and they watch _The Imitation Game_ and Daisy plays with her hair and things are okay one more time.

May and Phil can tell things are over. They make Daisy her favourite soup and comfort her while she tries her best not to cry. Her parents are the best, they really are.

But they’re not Jemma.

 

II.

_I guess I have a thing for new kids,_ Daisy thinks when Robbie Reyes walks into her science class.

Daisy can tell he’s really smart, because everyone else is always asking him for answers. Robbie is on the track team – he’s good at that, too. Daisy hears rumours that he’s propelling their school’s team to the national level.

But he never seems happy. He’s quiet. He slumps in the back of his chair like he can’t stand to be seen. He’s always on the verge of falling asleep.

Robbie Reyes is also gorgeous, which doesn’t escape Daisy’s notice.

In November, their science teacher reorganizes their seats. Daisy says hey and Robbie nods to her, already minutes away from nodding off. This is how their friendship starts: Daisy pokes him when he falls asleep and Robbie shoots that half sarcastic, half grateful smile in her direction.

“Hey, man,” Daisy asks him after class one day, “are you alright?”

“Sure,” says Robbie, distracted, and leaves without looking once in her direction.

She’s determined to crack him after that.

Daisy gets her opportunity mid-December, when Robbie comes in to school looking… worse than usual. For someone who’s perpetually tired, this is something of a feat. “Wow,” Daisy says – she can’t help herself.

“Wow yourself,” says Robbie, his voice hoarse, and turns away to cough violently into his elbow.

“Hey, are you _okay?”_ Daisy asks, and she’s actually concerned. She doesn’t know him very well but that sounded particularly painful. Robbie glances back at her like she’s surprised he asked.

“Sure,” he says, just like before, and moves to put his head down on the desk.

“No,” Daisy buts in stubbornly, “no, no, no – you don’t get to just ‘sure’ me, Reyes.”

“I don’t?” he asks, with the inklings of humour. But he’s raised his head from where it was resting on the table, so that’s a start.

“You look, to be kind, like _shit,”_ Daisy tells him emphatically.

“I’m glad you worked so hard to spare my feelings,” Robbie replies, dry as a desert. Then he starts coughing again and Daisy offers her water bottle. Robbie waves her off because he’s a fool.

“Seriously,” says Daisy. “This is kind of worrying.”

Robbie tries, semi-successfully, to disappear into his hoodie. “It’s fine. My little brother was sick and apparently I picked it up.” This is the longest sentence Daisy has ever heard him say.

“I didn’t know you had a brother,” Daisy says to cover her glee and surprise.

Robbie cracks the first real smile she’s seen from him. It makes Daisy’s heart do backflips. “Yeah. Gabe. He’s… he’s really something. Brilliant kid. Makes me think it’s worth it, sometimes.”

There is so much love in Robbie’s voice Daisy almost bursts. “Makes you think what’s worth it?” she asks, holding back her silly elation.

Robbie gestures to the classroom around them, subdued again. “This. He wanted me to stay in school, and I can’t complain – I mean, we both work, so it’s nothing I can hold over him, but –” Robbie clears his throat, a little embarrassed. “It’s hard. Sometimes.”

“Wait – you _both_ work?” Daisy asks, trying not to seem to privileged and horrified. “How old is he?”

“Fourteen,” says Robbie. “It’s his first job. Gabe’s so… and then he rags on me about grades when we’ve both spent half the afternoon under a Chevy.”

“Dude, you’re _really_ smart,” Daisy says without thinking. “I don’t know why you’re not in advanced classes like Jemma.”

Of course, this is where the ball drops. Daisy has just made the connection between Robbie’s smile and the butterflies in her stomach. She could do this again, she thinks. She really could.

“Jemma Simmons?” Robbie asks, something brightening in his eyes.

“Yeah,” says Daisy, like it doesn’t make her chest tighten to hear that name in full. “You know her?”

“I do,” Robbie says with that same little smile. “She’s my girlfriend.”

 

III.

 

Daisy flops down next to Fitz and groans. “I hate my life.”

“Tell me about it,” says Fitz as he opens up his lunchbox. “Simmons is _dating_ someone.”

“So you _do_ like her!” Trip crows as he sits next to the pair of them, having just caught the tail of Fitz’s words.

“Obviously I like her, Trip,” Fitz sighs, and Daisy can’t help but nod along. “She’s – I don’t know. But we work well together, _really_ well, and I’ve never had that kind of – that kind of intellectual anything with anyone before.”

“So, brains are sexy,” Daisy sums up, picking at her sandwich. “Choke me.” She gestures with her fork towards Fitz. “By the way, the kid Jemma’s dating? He’s in my science. He’s gorgeous. Good luck snagging her now.”

Fitz groans and they all spend lunch miserable.

 

IV.

 

“Daisy, sweetheart,” Phil says as Daisy picks at her dinner, “what’s wrong?”

Daisy doesn’t want to mention she’s beaten up over a boy, even if he’s a really great guy who she’s actually started becoming friends. “I’m on my period,” she says, and leaves, because that always freaks Phil out.

So of course, Melinda comes in to Daisy’s room and finds her furiously doing homework like the math has done something to offend her.

“Daisy.”

“I’m sorry,” Daisy mumbles, even though she’s not sure what she’s done wrong.

“It’s okay,” says Melinda quietly, sitting down next to her daughter and taking Daisy’s hands off the homework.

“Mom, I gotta get this done for tomorrow,” Daisy protests feebly.

“No,” says Melinda, “you’re all beat up. What’s wrong?”

Daisy sniffles and tries to get the words out of her throat, but they stick on her tonsils. “I don’t want to talk about it. I swear – it’s not a big deal, I swear.”

“Daisy,” Melinda murmurs, rubbing Daisy’s back gently. “You can tell me anything, you know that, right?”

“I know,” Daisy says. “I know. I’m okay.”

 

V. 

 

“Yo, is something wrong?” Robbie asks, with genuine concern, as Daisy huffs into physics the next day. She turns those flaming brown eyes on him but can’t think of anything to say. It’s not his fault that she’s hopeless with dating, after all. And after all she’s learned about Robbie, Daisy couldn’t bear to take that happiness from him.

Poised on the edge of snapping, Daisy shuts her mouth and sinks into her chair. “No. I’m fine,” she says with a smile, pushing back her hair and pulling out her notebook. “Had a shitload of homework last night.”

“Tell me about it,” Robbie says with that infuriatingly careless half-smirk, and Daisy feels her chest twist again. She’s been so thoughtless all this time.

“Hey, if you ever get a night off,” she says, running her mouth again before she can stop herself, “and you need somebody to watch Gabe, um. I’d be happy to stop by for a few hours, just make sure he’s not alone.”

Robbie hesitates a moment, glancing back at her with surprise curving in his brows. “You for real?”

“Yeah!” Daisy says, a bit too eager. Her smile turns teasing. “’Specially if you’ve got a _date_ or something…” _There,_ she thinks to herself. _That should prove I’m not jealous._ But she swears she sees Robbie’s expression tighten in annoyance at the mention of his girlfriend, and Daisy really tries not to read into it.

“Thanks,” Robbie says abruptly, shifting in his chair. The smile he gives her now is genuine. “I might take you up on that. But for real. Thank you.”

Daisy groans internally. Somebody really needs to give her dating advice.

 

VI.

 

_“Excuse_ me?” Daisy asks in horror as she looks over to the boy across the room from her. “Are you kidding me? You’re fourteen!”

“Mm-hm,” says Gabe, one brow still raised in an expression that reminds Daisy desperately of Robbie. “And somehow I’ve gotten my shit together way better than you.”

“Listen, you just gave me the worst dating advice I’ve ever heard,” Daisy says, even though she’s seriously considering taking it. “You’re telling _me_ to date somebody else to make _Robbie_ jealous even though he’s in a happy relationship? What’s he gonna be jealous about, Gabe?”

The look Gabe gives her says _‘are you really that dull?’_ “Aren’t you supposed to be the one watching me?”

“You’re the one who took it upon yourself to make my non-existent love life your priority,” Daisy shoots back.

“Because you’re pining harder than anything I’ve ever seen!” Gabe laughs, and Daisy buries her face in her hands.

“You know what? Stop that. I’m never coming back,” she threatens playfully, but she’s laughing too.

“Yes, you are,” Gabe says, the turn of his lips impossibly smug. “I’m telling you, I’m right.”

“I don’t take dating advice from eighth graders,” Daisy replies, and gets up to flick Gabe’s forehead. “What do you want for dinner?”

 

VII.

 

“Fitz, can you please pretend to date me?”

_“What?”_

“Robbie’s brother has a theory, it’s complicated,” Daisy says into the phone, rubbing at her temples. She kind of can’t believe she’s doing this. “But it involves you ending up with Simmons. So…”

“If you say so,” Fitz says from the other line, dubious. Daisy can imagine his expression and she doesn’t like it.

“It doesn’t have to be for long. Besides, I already set us up on a double date, so you’d better come,” she chirps. _“Please?”_

There’s a long silence. “You’re going to owe me one after this,” Fitz mumbles.

“If all goes well you’ll be owing me!” Daisy says, and hopes that she’s right. She’s maybe ten percent invested in what she’s saying. This is what happens when you follow an eighth grader’s word.

 

VIII.

 

“Hey, this table,” Robbie calls as Daisy and Fitz walk in. Holding Fitz’s hand is the weirdest thing she’s ever done. Jemma, all dolled up in yellow, looks spectacular, but… wow. Daisy’s heart is beating out of her chest when she sees Robbie, his curls just beginning to grow out. She swears she could see every freckle in the low light of the restaurant. The pressed button down he’s wearing flatters every part of his toned chest, dipping open at his collarbones.

Daisy tugs Fitz along and pretends that she hasn’t been staring.

The first oddity of the night is when Jemma switches seats to sit next to Fitz, claiming that she’d prefer to be across from Robbie anyway. Daisy, though, is lightheaded from being so close to him and the look that he’s giving her is making her pulse race.

Her long, brown hair is pulled into a sleek ponytail with just the slightest bump at the bottom. She’s wearing a sunset-coloured fit-and-flare dress, the smallest hint of a crinoline beneath the skirt. A gloss shines on her lips but Daisy’s face is mostly bare.

“You look really nice,” Robbie blurts, heat rushing across his face. Daisy has been putting all of her energy into focusing on the menu.

“Thanks,” she says, smiling. “You too.”

And with _so much_ willpower that she deserves an award, Daisy reabsorbs herself in picking out which entrée she will choose. Fitz and Simmons are engrossed deep in conversation about science, but Daisy is quiet. She’s stubborn and she wants Robbie to cave first. Goddamn, if Gabe is right and he really does like her – then Daisy should be treated right.

Also, she’s insecure and doesn’t want to be wrong because she took an eighth grader’s advice despite all better judgement.

Then Robbie takes her hand, and Daisy gasps. “You have a girlfriend,” she blurts immediately, looking up at him with wide eyes and then wondering why the hell she said that.

“No, I don’t.”

The tension in Daisy’s shoulders melts away. “You know, Fitz and I aren’t really…”

“Oh, _good,”_ Robbie says, and suddenly he’s much more at ease too. There’s a beat of silence before he speaks again. “You know, was it –”

“It was Gabe,” says Daisy, and they both laugh. “You were really doing this to make me jealous?”

“I mean, considering he put the idea in your head about you and Fitz, and you took _that,”_ Robbie begins, but Daisy cuts him off.

“Touché. I understand.”

“He’s very persuasive,” Robbie says thoughtfully. “And yet he always seems to be right.”

“I’m not complaining,” Daisy tells him with a devilish grin, and Robbie laughs yet again. It’s the most open that she’s ever seen him.

“I knew you two would get along.”

Daisy leans in, her chin resting in her elbow. “How long?” she challenges. “When were you first into me?”

The pink flush on Robbie’s freckle-spotted cheeks makes Daisy’s body hum. “That time when I got called on while I was asleep, and you wrote down the answer in three seconds to help me out.”

“Back in November?” Daisy asks, biting her lip to keep from grinning wildly.

“Yeah, and I couldn’t read what you wrote and we both got caught anyway but –” Robbie clears his throat. “It just meant a lot, that you’d do that for me.”

“Of course.” Daisy tilts her head, considering. “Go out with me.”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing right now?”

“No, I mean for real. Knowing that I’m the one you’re here for when I walk into the room,” Daisy pushes, and Robbie nods slowly.

“Alright,” he agrees, his tone languid. “I guess I could.”

“Don’t play with me, Reyes,” Daisy chides.

“I gotta say, I’m a bit offended,” Robbie fires back, that smile pulling ever-so-slightly at his lips again.

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“’Cause when I walk into a room,” he says, taking his time to look her straight in the eyes with all the intensity of his gaze, “I’m always there for you.”

**Author's Note:**

> many thanks for reading, and please feel free to comment/kudos/hit me up on my Tumblr, thoughtsbubble!


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